Ocean acidification caused mass extinction of life 252 million years ago, study finds

Ocean acidification wiped out over 90% of marine life 252 million years ago. The volcanic activity at the time also destroyed more than two-thirds of all animals living on land, researchers from Britain, Austria and Germany reported.

The devastation to life on Earth occurred after the oceans absorbed massive amounts of carbon dioxide from volcanic eruptions, which changes the composition of the seas, making them more acidic.

Soaring emissions

The study, carried out by scientists from the Universities of Edinburgh, Cambridge, Leeds and Exeter in the UK, the University of Bremen in Germany, and the University of Graz in Austria, has been published in the journal Science.

Of concern is that the carbon dioxide release of 252 million years ago that led to the mass extinction is starting to occur today – this time we are causing it.

The authors say their findings show that the resulting acidification of the oceans were to blame.

They add that the results of their study are helping scientists gain a better understand of the threat to marine life today by ocean acidification. The rate of carbon release 252 million years ago was similar to today’s emissions.

The extinction during the Permian-Triassic Boundary occurred over a 60,000 year period, while the acidification of the oceans lasted for about 10,000 years.

The acidification of the oceans was the driving force behind the most devastating phase of the extinction, the authors say, which was the kiss of death for an already unstable ecosystem.

The environment had already been put under pressure by rising temperatures and widespread loss of oxygen in the oceans.